Spring?

What a beautiful weekend we were blessed with after more snow!!!  We love these nice days when all of our friends are out to play too!

Jackson playing with sticks and dirt...

Graham playing with sticks and dirt!  

Graham has discovered this area of sand leftover from the "salt" trucks, and he was having a ball!

Give him a stick, and he's happy to play for a while!  Supervised, of course!

This little playhouse is getting smaller by the day :)  It is still such a magnet for friends!

Jackson and Sage shooting hoops

Bubbles mean it's really spring, right?!?!?!

Reagan and I in our matching Salty Dog shirts from Hilton Head.  Oh, that sounds lovely right now... :)  Sadly, there is more snow in our forecast :(  

The Last of the Long Weekend Fun!

Our second morning spent at the water park was just as much fun as the first!  There was plenty more rides down the water slide, splashes in the pool, and soaks in the hot tub :)

Our routine worked well from the first day, so after the water park we did quick baths and then lunch and naps.  

Brandi and I snuck away again for a little Starbucks and shopping at the outlet mall.  

Then we went down to the playground at the hotel.  There was also a very small miniature golf course available to play at the hotel.  This was a great way to enjoy some fresh air and run off some energy before heading to dinner!

 So happy playing what the big kids are playing! 

 Mini golfers

Kaitlyn putt-putting

It won't be long before Liam and Jackson can round out the foursome with Scott and Josh!

 Brandi bought some sticky mustaches for a photo shoot!  Hilarity! 

We weren't about to be left out!  

We were able to squeeze in another full morning of swimming before we had to check-out on Monday.  We had been so lucky to still the Buerstattes somewhat regularly, but we needed to fill our tank with hanging out fun for sure!  It was prefect to have a two room suite where we could all just be together and squeeze in as much fun as possible!

The Resort at Governor's Crossing

Our first morning at the water park was amazing!!!  We got there right when it opened and we were so pleased!  It was the perfect water park for all of the kids, big and small ;)  There were two huge water slides, a standard pool (we didn't spend much time in it), a hot tub, a splash pad area with a tiny water slide, and a zero-entrance pool with a mushroom sprinkler.  We borrowed a Puddle Jumper from Graham before we left, but there were life vests there for kids to use!  Jackson was happy to wear the life vest and he was even happier to launch him down the fastest water slide ALL WEEKEND!  He also liked spending time in the hot tub!  So excited with my little fish :)

I can't believe Brandi caught this shot of Jackson and Kaitlyn's faces as Josh shot out of the water slide super fast!

Graham peeking up the tiny water slide!

Graham also LOVED the big water slides!

The grown-ups had fun racing down the slides too :)

After a lovely naptime of relaxing in our room, we headed out for a few stops.  We started at Harrisburg Covered Bridge, and it was such a pretty bridge for a photo shoot :) 

 The Fabulous Foursome!

 Love this littlest squeeze! 

 Smooches from Mommy! 

 Oh, these two!  LOVE them and their special little friendship :) 

Three Boys and One Little Lady

 Brandi and her sweet kiddos

 In front of the bridge

Love our little family :)

 For some reason, we don't have any pictures, but we stopped next at a cool, wooden playground to burn off some steam before dinner.  Then, we split up for a bit: Brandi and I hung out with the kids at Chick fil a while they ate and played while Scott and Josh headed out to dinner (since they were staying in with the kids for the rest of the night).  There were funny cow hats!

MOOO!

We all went back to the hotel, Graham went to bed, and then Brandi and I went OUT by OURSELVES!  We had an interesting dinner and then did some retail therapy.  It was just like old times :)

January Getaway!

SOOO glad we were able to squeeze in one more quick visit with our favorite family of boys before they moved across the country!  The stars all aligned, and we planned a long weekend in Sevierville, TN with the Buerstattes for Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend.  We found an awesome deal on a two-room suite at The Resort at Governor's Crossing.  Full kitchen in the room and an amazing INDOOR waterpark!  Why, oh, why did it take us so long to do this trip???  It's not too disappointing since in a couple of short months the Buerstattes will be living in ILLINOIS!!!  We decided to tack on an extra day to our trip so we could stop and stay with the Langstaffs for one night.  We got in after dinner, so it was conveniently bedtime for the boys, and we got to really sit down, relax with some delicious wine, and truly catch up with Becca and George!  We love spending time with them and their family--we can't wait to plan a cross-country road trip to visit them in CA in a few years!!

I was SO excited to meet Mr. Oliver Earl!

 Friends enjoying breakfast :)

 Graham LOVED getting in with the big boys!  He didn't have a lightsaber, per se, but he was not going to be left out!

 And, he was ecstatic with his part in this game!  LOL

 Baby Oliver!  SO cute!!!   A wonderful third addition to a great family :)

 Josh and his buddy :)

 Hard at work!  I think it is appropriate that this post is SO late, since we also had the boys wear their matching Halloween shirts...in January!

 Posing with their creations

 Oliver also has a glow-in-the-dark skeleton shirt, but it was hard enough to get the oldest four all awake and happy at the same time, so we'll take that!

The boys enjoyed playing outside for a large part of the morning before lunch.  George got home right around lunchtime, and Becca and I left the dad in charge of all FIVE BOYS, and we snuck out for some girl time.  We had to pack it all in to such a short amount of time this visit :(   

 We grabbed an afternoon cider while we waited for our lunch order to be ready to take back home.

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Graham set his sleep tone for the trip when we got in to Becca and George's since he screamed for hours before finally falling back asleep :(  Totally unprecedented for him, but he then didn't nap regularly, so we ended up leaving Johnson City a bit earlier than planned so we could get to the hotel in time for bedtime.  This trip was mid-January, and the Langstaff family was all packed up and out of their house by February 1st, so we really got the trip in just in time!

Our drive to the hotel was uneventful, and we checked in and ordered pizza for dinner.  Josh and I totally just relaxed with a delicious milkshake after the boys were both in bed and I had done a grocery run for the last few food items I needed.  Then it was just a waiting game until the Buerstattes arrived!!!

Graham is 21 Months!

​Oh, this kid.  We could not love him any more!  He already is showing such a personality filled with humor, tenderness, opinions, and smiles :)  I had every intention of posting an 18-month update at the beginning of December, but, that clearly didn't happen!  Neither did the 19-month update last month, or the 20-month update...  So, here we are with a 21-month update!  LOL  

Graham's vocabulary is definitely improving: mama, dada, touchdown, ball, car, woof, choo-choo, uh-huh and cheese as well as learning to sign "please" and "thank you!"  He mimics us to say, "Shhh..." by putting his finger to his lips and he likes to find any phone (pretend or real) and hold it up to his eye and say, "Cheese!" to pretend to take a picture.  It's hilarious!  He clearly has communication down pat, though!  He understands what we are saying, and he will follow directions to complete simple tasks.  He has entered the phase where he cries really big when he hurts himself, but a kiss makes it all better!  He wants to have a turn to do EVERYTHING!  I just love watching his face as he seriously watches Jackson, and then gets excited to try himself.  Right now, they are very happy chasing each other around the kitchen!

Graham still LOVES to eat!  Hotdogs, pizza, macaroni and cheese, chicken, hamburgers, green beans, carrots, strawberries, bananas, grapes, peaches, pears, pancakes, cereal, peanut butter and jelly, cheese, yogurt, and snacks!  

Graham LOVES books!  That makes this mama's heart super happy!  He is happy with a pile of books for a good length of time, but he really will only sit and listen to a story when it is sleep time and we are in his room rocking.  He insists that the routine include a snuggly blanket covering us as he sits on our lap!  Other favorite toys are the play shopping cart, doll stroller, cars, and the toy kitchen.

This is one happy kid who loves life!  We love him SO much and cannot imagine our lives without him :)